Parmentier potato journal revival. Peruanita vs Canchan

So this is a short one, but a necessary one. I haven’t written for the potato journal in a while. But I know that it’s an area with too much grey. Most chefs don’t even know much about the grand variety of potatoes we have in this country (over 5,000 different species). I’ve heard so many conflictive opinions about what potato serves best for what method of concoction and even when I ask the vendors, they can never stick to the same story. Still, I make my comparisons based by native intelligence to find out which one is really the best. I want to also start to promote the use of other native potatoes but we’ll just see if I can keep up 😉

So today we have for you, the parmentier potato. One of the classic French potato cutting techniques (grandeur is complicated.) cut into 1.5cmx1.5cmx1.5cm cubes, cooked from cold water until just before boiling and then check on them every second praying that they don’t pass. But they make for a mean potato salad.

I’m comparing the peruanita potato with the canchan potato.

The peruanita has a bolder taste (sort of a given with it’s yellow tint), which makes a potato salad with a little more character. Though, between the two, the peruanita has a smoother more homogenous texture.

The canchan potato was whiter with a neutral flavor, it’s bright pink skin added a nice color difference and the neutral flavor allowed the vinaigrette to reign. It made a more refreshing potato salad, but the grainy texture just wasn’t doing it for me.

As for the recipe, for 2 large potatoes add 1 lemon (juice) 2 tbspn of vinegar chopped parsley and cilantro. Cumin, salt, and pepper to taste (I added a little bit of rocoto just because it was there) and you’re good to go!

All in all, I’d stick with the peruanita. But others preferred the canchan, it’s all about preferences at the end.